Overview of WAN Visibility
Each LAN-side TCP connection that is optimized by a SteelHead is carried on a unique WAN-side connection. By configuring a WAN visibility mode for some or all optimized connections, you can control which IP addresses and TCP ports are used on these WAN-side TCP connections.
RiOS v6.0 or later offers the following options for configuring WAN visibility modes:
Correct addressing - WAN-side connections use SteelHead IP addresses and SteelHead server ports.Transparent addressing - The following are transparent addressing options:Port transparency - WAN-side connections use SteelHead IP addresses but use TCP server ports that mirror the LAN-side connection.Full transparency - WAN-side connections mirror all IP addresses and TCP ports used on the LAN-side connection.Full transparency with forward reset - The same as full transparency, with an additional packet during auto-discovery to aid with integration of stateful network devices on the WAN.The most suitable WAN visibility mode depends primarily on your existing network configuration. For example, if you manage IP address-based or TCP port-based QoS policies for optimized traffic on your WAN or WAN routers, you might use full address transparency or port transparency. However, if you need your optimized traffic to pass through a content-scanning firewall that creates alarms when application ports are used on optimized traffic payload, you might use correct addressing instead. You can configure WAN visibility modes on the client-side SteelHead (where the connection is initiated).
There can be different types of addressing modes on the same SteelHead. Choose the most appropriate addressing mode for your configuration, based on IP addresses, subnets, TCP ports, and VLAN.